Thursday - Christmas Eve!

Morning workout - 6:00am
Run 10 miles

Breakfast -

Lunch -

Dinner -

Note:

Wednesday

Breakfast - 9:00am
1.5 cup Special K Vanilla Almond cereal w/ blueberries, slivered almonds and soymilk

Lunch - 12:00pm
1 toasted sandwich thin w/ PB and a banana

Snack - 3:00pm

Dinner - 7:00pm

Note: I just found out that I won a free entry for a 1/2 marathon. I am so happy and excited. I was really itching to run a race in January but I was taking my finances into consideration and this was such a great early Christmas gift. Thank you Danica!!

Tuesday - 3 days before Christmas!

Breakfast - 9:00am
1.5 cup Special K Vanilla Almond cereal w/ slivered almonds, blueberries and soymilk

Lunch - 1:00pm - Santouka
1 small bowl of shoyu ramen
2 plum rice ball

Snack - 3:00pm
1 cup french vanilla coffee
1 small cranberry and pistachio biscotti

Dinner - 9:00pm
1 bowl of Neoguri ramen
1 chocolate square
3 dried pineapple rings

Note:

Monday - let's start this again!

Morning Workout - 7:00am
Run 4.25 miles - easy

Breakfast - 9:00am
1/2 cup cooked rolled oatmeal w/ golden raisins, slivered almonds, and blueberries.

Lunch - 12:30pm
Quiznos torpedo sub w/ turkey, bacon, tomatoes, mayo and italian dressing.

Snack - 3:00pm
1 cup French Vanilla coffee
1 Ghiradelli milk chocolate & and caramel square

Dinner - 7:00pm - Tea Station
1 bowl of seseme noodles w/ carots, cucumber, corn and fried tofu skin
1 Ghiradelli milk chocolate & caramel square

Note: I am attempting to eat clean today and until the new year to make the transition back to clean eating easier. It probably won't be 100% but every little bit helps. I've been eating really badly with all the holiday parties lately.

On another note, I set out to run 14 miles this past Saturday, the morning after one of my holiday parties in which I got home really late and only got 4 hours of sleep. I was kicking butt with my pacing and only ended up doing 11.5 due to my running partner getting a leg cramp and having to walk the rest of the way home. I just walked with him since it was no big deal. I will probably be running alot this week anyways. I got up this morning with every intention to run 6 miles at pace but I was just not feeling it. I got a shin cramp again and that always takes me out of the game. I am hoping that my shin issue will improve over time but I've just always struggled with it. So this is a short week since Friday is Christmas. The holidays are always so stressful for me. Seeing all the people rushing around like crazy bats trying to buy crap for everyone just drives me crazy. I am hoping that next year, the year of organization, will help me cope with the stress of holidays. I've not been at my best these past couple of years with people's birthdays and holidays, on some occasions, I feel like I am just mailing it in. I think I need to do less but do it better.

Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010!

I was reading over my last post and noticed that the title of it was "I'm back", but I guess I lied because that was back on November 1. I have no excuse for not blogging except to say that I've been really busy. This year seemed long to me because I can remember almost everything I did since Jan. I did so much this year but there is also so much I did not accomplish. Overall, I think everything balanced out. This post is mainly my year in review.

Things on my "I did this" list:
1) Started posting more regularly on this blog
2) Tried out clean eating for 4 months...mostly successful. I will talk more about this maybe at the end of this post or in another post.
3) Won BBR in women's category - mostly because I did 53 pushups.
4) Started weight training more seriously - the story of how I gained and the lost my guns!
5) Marathon PR @ 4:01
6) Ran 2 marathons in the same month - 3 weeks apart
7) Survived a terrible cough/cold that lasted 2 months - after 3 prescription of antibiotics, 6 bottles of cough medicine, 2 box of Day and Nyqil, 3 boxes of cough drops and many hours of sleeping, I finally got better.
8) Traveled to San Francisco and Las Vegas for races - PR at LV @ 1:52 for Half Marathon
9) Actually took marathon training seriously for once
10) Had some amazing tasting food this year.
11) Got to know Sister K so much better! And she is a boat load of fun.
12) Completed California Dreaming Series
13) Learned to crochet

Things on my "oops, maybe next year" list:
1) Did not run marathon under 4 hours or BQ
2) Did not continue with clean eating after sister's wedding
3) Did not try to make new friends
4) Did not organize my living room
5) Did not neuter my dog
6) Did not manage my finances
7) Did not take any classes for personal development
8) Did not find time to volunteer at animal shelter
9) Did not do any international traveling
10) Did not read any books
11) Did not go to the desert to see the stars

Since October, I really haven't been on any sort of plans for myself. My eating habit has been sporadic, I've been running just when I feel like but luckily that has been often, I started drinking coffee as a trade off to not taking "peppy" pills, I am not drinking as much water or eating as much fruits and veggies as I would like. My sleeping pattern ranges from too much to too little due to events and happenings. I've basically been eating, sleeping, working and running. I have big plans for myself for the new year. I just want to get more organize mostly.

Resolution: (first round)
1) Get more organized with work and home
2) Make effort to make friends - don't know how I will do this yet - maybe I need to smile more
3) Establish better eating habits - start posting on this blog again so I am accountable
4) Focus on marathon training plan and goals - follow plan more closely
5) Stay off peppy pills and coffee
6) Sleep more regular hours
7) Run 2010 miles in 2010
8) Run marathon under 4 hours or BQ
9) Spend more time with my family
10) Travel to someplace new
11) Get better at my job

That's all I have for now. I will revise that list come New Years Eve.

2009 Las Vegas Half Marathon - Race Recap

Date: December 6, 2009
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Time: 1:52:25

Commentary (2/9/2011): Back posting again. I seem to remember that this was the first year that RocknRoll took over this marathon. They changed the course from previous years when it use to be owned by the Devine Race Management company, which also use to run the LA Marathon.

I ran the half marathon course which was an out and back on the famous Vegas strip. The marathon course started out on the strip but then went into residential parts of Vegas and returned through the back parking lots of some of the hotels and back to Mandalay Bay. I guess I had not taken any other photos on this Vegas trip because I can't seem to find any. We stayed at the host hotel, the Mandalay Bay Hotel. This was great because the starting line was just right outside the hotel.

It was a very cold year for this race. I remember it was 30 degrees on race morning. Brrrr! Check out all the clothes I wore to run. I was still cold the entire time.